1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cutting guide, and more particularly to an apparatus to be used in conjunction with a power tool to quickly, safely and accurately cut strips from larger sheets of material, such as plastic laminate, while simultaneously supporting the cut strip.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of portable tools have been used in an attempt to quickly and accurately cut strips from the larger sheets of material. The success of these attempts has been at least partially related to the particular material being cut. For instance, portable, powered circular saws are commonly used to cut wood, plywood, sheet rock, and other soft materials, but have not been successful in cutting tougher, more brittle materials such as plastic laminate.
One type of tool used to cut plastic laminate is basically composed of an arcuate blade which extends forwardly from one end of a wooden handle. A sharp carbide tip is welded or otherwise affixed to the end of the blade opposite the handle. The tip is used to score a line in the plastic laminate so that it can be fractured along the line in a manner similar to cutting glass with a glass cutter.
Another type of plastic laminate cutting tool generally resembles a right angled drive mechanism attached to a powered hand drill. A cutter is connected to the output shaft of the right hand drive mechanism. This particular tool not only does not have any provision for guiding the cutting tool relative to the material being cut, but also lacks any provision for vertically supporting the strip after it is cut.
Another type of tool used to cut plastic laminate material into strips includes a conventional router having a circular base plate with a central opening through which the cutting tool downwardly extends. The router may include a short fence which is supported laterally from the base by a pair of parallel, horizontally disposed circular rods which slidably engage through openings provided in the fence and in the router base plate. A router, even with the addition of such a fence, provides no means for supporting the cut strip upwardly against the bottom of the router base to prevent the material from vibrating with respect to the cutting tool. As a result, the kerf cut in the plastic laminate is often crooked and jagged.
Furthermore, if relatively wide strips are being cut, no provision is made for holding the strip upwardly in contact with the fence to thus prevent the laminate from breaking under the weight of the portion of the strip already cut. In an attempt to prevent the strip from breaking and excessively vibrating, the user usually tries to support the strip upwardly against a router base plate by placing his fingers beneath the plastic laminate material. Manually holding the plastic laminate material in this manner is very dangerous especially since the cutting tool is not only very sharp, but also rotates in excess of 25,000 revolutions per minute.